A new advanced robot technology, engineered by Boston Dynamics, could be a potential breakthrough in assisting Mars exploration and space discovery.
Boston Dynamics are among the only companies in the world to release a robot with complex machine learning programs. Their dog robot, Spot, can be bought in three editions. The ‘automate’ edition can be manually controlled via a smartphone while the ‘explore’ enables 360 degree analysis of the peripheral surrounding environment.
A customizable edition programmed with pre-built solutions from networks and software development kit (SDK) is available “to create custom controls, program autonomous missions, and integrate sensor inputs into data analysis tools”.
Currently, they are deployed in construction sites and factories to monitor hard to reach areas, as well as being used for local transportation of light goods.
The company is collaborating with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to test out how three Spot robots could collectively explore a cave and search for life on Mars.
The first explores the cave more broadly, and lays down transceivers so that communications are maintained with the ground station. When the first robot detects an interesting feature, the images are sent back. The second robot is deployed with a robot arm and extra sensing and sampling equipment. Finally, the third robot collects the samples and sends them back to the ground station.
Spot’s announcement has accumulated a mixed reception – both fascinating and terrifying viewers. Back in 2018, a pair of Spot robots were involved in a performance where the pair worked together to open a door automatically with no human input.
One robot learned by using a type of machine learning how to open a door without human instruction. The second robot simply was tasked with going to a location behind the door, and was connected to the second robot via a wireless connection.
Whenever the first robot realised it couldn’t traverse the obstacle, it sent a request to the second robot to open the door, which it did promptly, and they both went through.
Spot has since been used in several other videos released by Boston Dynamics, two of the most impressive being ‘Do you love me’ and ‘Spot’s on it’. Both videos of Spot showcase the impressive feat of engineering, which some viewers noted how the robot bore a strong resemblance to the robot dog in a Black Mirror episode, where it used its range of sensors to hunt down and kill the protagonist.
Lately, we are starting to see more videos showcasing the actual use of Spot in an industrial setting. People were initially sceptical, in part due to the high price point of £60,000 but also the commercial viability of this technology – could this robot dog actually be realistically administered in complex real world settings?
The answer seems to be ‘Yes’, albeit in fairly specific cases. For example, inspecting hazardous places such as construction sites or manufacturing facilities, reducing health risks. As a society, we are only at the beginning of integrating robots into the way we live and work where there are likely uses that will arise in the future that we cannot even speculate about today.
